


Another Choice

by alafaye



Series: Different Doors [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-31
Updated: 2012-01-31
Packaged: 2017-10-30 10:24:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/330699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alafaye/pseuds/alafaye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Severus decides to make another change in his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Another Choice

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel to [Defining Change](http://archiveofourown.org/works/317744).

The temporary medical wing was a mad rush of noise and people and magic and smells. In sum, it was chaos. Sirius clutched Severus closer as they tried to find a free space and not to get lost in the madness. 

"Sirius," Severus moaned, clutching tighter to Sirius' robes.

"Hush, don't worry," Sirius said, trying to keep his voice from shaking. "We'll get you help."

"You need to know--"

"I know, love, I know." Sirius took a deep breath and tried to keep from breaking down. Severus had never been hurt in battle before--he was an excellent duelist and had earned a reputation from both sides. It was a new feeling for Sirius, the fear and worry and lead lump of dread in his stomach. He knew that Severus wasn't actually badly hurt, but his world had been shaken.

Madame Pomfrey was rushing by, yelling out orders, but paused. "Which of you is hurt?"

"Severus, madame," Sirius rushed out.

Her lips tightened and took up Severus' other arm. She yelled over her shoulder and then was rushing them to a free cot. "Settle him here and I'll have a look over."

"Pomfrey!" a voice shouted. "I need your help!"

She cursed. "Stay here--it doesn't look too bad. Stay. Put." She directed that at both of them, but mostly at Severus.

"Sirius--the baby," Severus whimpered.

Sirius blinked and his mind went blank. "What?"

"You have to save the baby," Severus whispered, eyes scared. The hand that was not clutched in Sirius' robes was around his stomach--something that Sirius had not noticed before. He happened to look further south and his heart clenched. Severus gasped as the dark patch widened. "Sirius--"

"Pomfrey!" Sirius shouted.

~~~

"No, I will not do it," Severus said. He turned away and stirred a potion. As he did so, he added a branch and nodded as it turned a deep violet.

"Lily is," Sirius said.

"I'm not her," Severus said, shoulders tensing.

"But if she can and still--"

"No! I can't--the potions...and the battles," Severus whispered.

"Who knows how long this will go on?" Sirius asked. "It might be years and...I had hoped you would--"

"I want it as much as you do," Severus said. He set a shield around the potion and slowly turned. "I want a child of our own, to spoil and love. To teach potions to and see off to Hogwarts. I want that all. But not now--please don't ask again."

Sirius sighed and nodded. "If you want, love." He turned away, heart heavy.

"Sirius?" Severus pulled him back, into a fierce embrace. "I'm sorry. It's just--now is not the time. I want to be able to get rid of this monster and not worry if our little one will be waiting at home, hoping his papas come home safely."

Sirius closed his eyes and bit his lip. "I understand."

"I don't think you do," Severus began.

"I do," Sirius said. "James is so worried--he wants to be able to see his son grow up. He's having nightmares, now. And what if Voldemort gets his hands on Lily and their son? What if--"

"Hush," Severus whispered. "Little Harry is going to be fine."

Sirius smiled, spirits lifted with Severus' fierce words. "With all of us on the look out, he will be."

~~~

"Harry James Potter," James said proudly as he held his son--barely hours old.

Sirius half smiled and held out shaking hands to hold his godson. "Beautiful, James. Looks just like you."

"I hope some of Lily, too," James said. "Imagine if he has her eyes?" He looked behind Sirius. "You want to hold him?"

Sirius turned and his smile softened. He handed Harry off to Severus who cradled him as though holding a precious gem. "He is amazing, James."

James beamed.

~~~

Harry's first Christmas went spectacularly. All of them had been given the day off from the Order and the Aurors had graciously given James and Sirius leave. The safe house had been decorated last night and between Lily and Severus, the food was enough to tide them off for the next week. Sirius had gone behind everyone's back and gotten Harry's his first broom--he was now riding it under his mother's watchful eye (especially since they had discovered he was prone to being adventurous).

Sirius smiled and wrapped his arms around Severus and rested his chin on his fiance's shoulder. "This was nice."

Severus hummed and rested his hands over Sirius', over where their child could be right now if Sirius had his way. He understood why, he really did, but he ached to hold their child, ached to see him or her playing with Harry. 

"Harry's very good," Severus said. "Going to be a Quidditch player just like his dad."

Sirius chuckled. "That he could."

The shoulder under Sirius' chin lifted as Severus took a deep breath. "Do you--do you ever think if our child would play?"

It was soothing to know that Sirius wasn't the only one. "Maybe. I'm not that good, but who knows? He might just be and wouldn't that be something? Receiving passes in the post to see him play at the World Cup?"

"Or just being happy doing what he wants?" Severus said, quietly. "Maybe he'll be brilliant at potions instead. Or become an Auror."

Sirius kissed Severus' temple. "One day. We'll kill this blasted Voldemort and you can take that potion you developed and we'll be able to raise our child in peace."

~~~

Sirius sighed. "You know, considering we've been having sex since I was sixteen, it's weird you've suddenly got cold feet on our wedding night."

Severus left the bathroom. "What I do in there is none of your business."

"Unless you're showering." Sirius grabbed his husband and pulled him down. They fumbled for a few delicious moments, naked skin against naked skin. The wedding had gone brilliantly, Severus amazing in his forest green robes and actually smiling the whole time. James had behaved, Remus had gotten all the arrangements perfect, and Lily had been beautiful as the maid of honor. Where they'd found enough food for the reception was beyond Sirius, but he was thankful. It wasn't the wedding he'd first envisioned when the idea of marrying Sirius had first popped in his head, but it was good. 

He only wished he could see his mother's face when the announcement appeared in the paper.

Severus kissed Sirius. "We can do that later."

"Oh, you. What were you doing in there? Hmm? It's not like you're a virgin."

"That's my business."

"And it took fifteen minutes?"

"Are we going to fuck or not?"

"Not." Sirius winked. "I thought, for once, we could do it like a proper couple and make love."

"Sop."

"Romantic."

"Humph."

~~~

_Present_

"You bastard," Sirius whispered. "You just had to do it, didn't you? Why though? I agreed it was too great a risk--why did you do it?"

"Because the reward was greater," Severus whispered brokenly, finally waking up.

Sirius signaled for a nurse and smiled. "Hey."

"Hey." Severus licked his lips and his arm twitched. "What happened?"

"You took a nasty curse," Sirius explained. "We're not sure who cast it, but it must be new--no one could identify it. But you're fine now, no worries. Especially since you woke up. Madame Pomfrey said you would be on the mend if you woke up."

"And--" Severus gulped. "Sirius, what about the--"

Sirius smiled lightly. "Alive. For now."

Severus frowned. "What's that mean? Is he fine?"

A nurse bustled over before Sirius could answer, waving her wand and taking readings and generally tutting. "Do you have any pain? Nausea? Dizziness? Feeling lightheaded?"

"Nothing," Severus snarled. "I just want to know about my baby."

Her mouth clicked shut. "He's fine, no thanks to you leaving yourself unprotected. I've heard you have a friend who was pregnant--surely you know about the spells witches use to protect their baby if they go into battle?"

"I was using them," Severus said quietly, looking away.

She sighed. "I'm sorry. But be aware next time--or there won't be a next time."

"What?"

"Whatever curse that was, it hurt the womb your body created to sustain the child. It's fine, alive, all readings are good. However, should something else happen, you won't be so lucky next time."

Severus took a deep breath and his free hand slowly curled around his stomach. The nurse clucked her tongue and shook her head. She fussed some more and made notes on the chart at the end of the bed before leaving them in peace. Sirius' thumb rubbed across Severus' hand. "So."

"I was planning on telling you on your birthday," Severus said. "I'd have been four months officially."

"You knew when you conceived?" Sirius asked.

"I could feel it," Severus said with a smile. "There was just this feeling of something...there."

"I thought you were just stress eating," Sirius joked.

Severus narrowed his eyes. "What's that mean?"

Sirius held up his hands. "Nothing, nothing." He looked down and couldn't resist resting his hand on top of Severus', where their child was growing. "You did it. The potion worked." He chuckled softly. "You're pregnant. Almost four months, yeah?"

"Remember what we did four months ago?" Severus asked quietly.

The ring on Sirius' finger caught the light as he did, in fact, remember. "That's what you were doing."

"I thought it would help," Severus said. "Good luck and all that."

Sirius wanted to say more, but it was just so overwhelming. He had known since Pomfrey had told him, but now Severus had--it meant more. "We need a house."

"Among other things," Severus agreed. "But we'll get there."

~~~

"I want to go," Severus said fiercely. His eyes were dark and his body radiated tension, despite the fact that his frame had softened considerably when he'd entered the middle of his fifth month.

"You can't!" Sirius argued back. "If something happens--"

Severus banged his fists on the table between them. "I'm not made of glass!"

"But our child is!" 

Silence fell. Even from those listening in from the hallway. It was almost eerie. Sirius took a deep breath and ran his hands over his face. "I know we should have told you, but when you got hit with that curse, the uterine wall--the thing keeping our child safe--separated a bit. That was why you were bleeding. The lifeline for our child was in danger. If anything--even hitting something here in the house hard enough--happens again, you will loose him."

Severus growled. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Pomfrey thought that it would be better. She said the stress could make things worse, make you more vulnerable to a miscarriage."

Severus shook his head and he began to pace. "I hate this--knowing you're out there, fighting for us, and without me there to watch your back."

"Remus will--"

"Remus hesitates to cast any of the stronger, darker spells!"

Sirius sighed. "Then I'll just stay here. With you. We'll both be safe then."

A chair went flying. "That's not what I want!"

"No, you just want to get back into battle and risk our child again!"

Severus' eyes narrowed. "I didn't do it on purpose."

"I never said you did. But now, going out there, knowing what we know." Sirius shook his head. "You can't. You just can't. So our child can live, don't go out there."

Severus snarled and left the room. Sirius started after him, but in the hallway, Remus and James stopped him. "Let him go--he does know better than to go back into the field," Remus said.

Sirius sighed. "I hate this. I just wish he would stop fighting and rest."

"Lily will talk with him," James said. "They'll commiserate on the fact that their partners are idiots and complain about what pregnancy does to a body. Harry will get them to play with him and when we get home, he'll be welcoming you back with open arms. Maybe open legs."

They both cast a stinging hex at him for that one.

~~~

Sirius knocked on the door. "Severus? Love?"

"Come in."

Sirius smiled as he opened the door. "Hey. Still alive, me."

Severus was standing by the dresser, studying his silhouette in the mirror. His hands were on his swollen stomach. "He was kicking." He took a deep, shuddered breath. "Close the door, will you?"

Sirius did and crossed the room. He set the bag of chocolates on the bedside table. "I'm sorry."

"Don't. It's my fault. You were just doing what you do best. I know better than to want to leave."

"No one likes being cooped up."

Severus was silent, rubbing his stomach. "If I had ever suspected that you would one day run me out of the house to marry me and get me pregnant, I would have never let you exercise your rights as a young lord."

Sirius sat on the bed and cocked his head to the side. "I probably would have gone back for you. Just to punch you in your high-and-mighty face. A servant is not supposed to refuse."

"Why not any of the others? Mina was a lovely girl and would have jumped into your arms if you had called."

"I wanted you. Broody and dark and quiet. I wanted to make you come undone. See what happened when I got there."

"And now look at us--an old married couple."

"We're not old yet."

"Do you even know what happens to the body after pregnancy? My stomach will be all saggy and my bladder will never be the same." Severus' lip curled as he wrapped his arms around his chest. "My breasts are sore. Sore! I didn't think that was going to be a side effect, but Lily says they'll likely be sore on and off after this."

"But you're beautiful."

"You say that now."

Sirius rolled his eyes and stood to wrap Severus in his arms. "When we are an old married couple, with grandchildren plenty, I will still think you're beautiful. I promise."

"I hope you don't expect that I'll willingly do this again. I hate being pregnant."

"You're radiant--I think I'd like to see you pregnant at least twice more."

Severus growled and pushed Sirius away. "Just see if I let you touch me after I give birth. I discussed the potion with Pomfrey and a few experts and they think I could be fertile even after the child is born."

"Suppose you'll have to study birth control charms, then."

"And just maybe I'll douse you with the potion--let you deal with all of this mess."

Sirius smiled warmly and kissed his husband. "On the bright side, you are still snarky."

"Don't you forget it."

~~~

Sirius dimmed his wand as he entered their bedroom and hoped that Severus was asleep. He undressed silently and quickly before slipping between the warmed bed sheets. He startled, however, when his husband rolled over and wrapped an arm around him.

"About time you got home," Severus whispered.

Sirius kissed his forehead. "Thought you were asleep."

"What happened?"

"The raid went wrong," Sirius said. "Our informant told us there would only be five--there were at least fifteen and not a single one of them untrained."

Severus' hands tightened. "Are you injured? What about the others?"

"We're all fine," Sirius said. "Weasley got a bit singed, but he's fine. On the plus side, we now have in our custody fifteen higher up Death Eaters."

"Good," Severus whispered.

"We might even have enough to find You-Know-Who and get rid of him for good," Sirius said even quieter than the whispers they had been using.

"You mean it?"

"Yes."

Severus let out a breath. "Finally."

"I won't believe it until it happens."

"I'm sure Lily will be happy."

Sirius hummed, understanding. Ever since Dumbledore had told them of the prophecy concerning Harry, none of them had slept well. Sirius was glad that they had decided to use Remus as the Secret Keeper instead of Wormtail. He hoped that when they finally found Voldemort, they would find Peter and they could get rid of him, too.

"After, when we were all being checked out, I kept thinking," Sirius said eventually. "I never asked you why and I...I can't imagine not knowing. Why did you use the potion, Severus?"

His husband was quiet for several moments. "Harry. It was...I can't describe the feeling when I first held him and then seeing him grow, play. I imagined holding our child and seeing him grow up. I...wanted it, to have it happen. Raise a child with you. Give him the opportunities I never had."

Sirius' arm tightened around Severus' shoulders. "You've done well, despite it all."

"And I can use it to make a better life for our little one," Severus said. "I want to."

Sirius kissed Severus' forehead and then his lips. "I can't wait."

The answer, when it came, was so quiet it went almost unheard, but it warmed Sirius. "Me, neither."

~~~

"Bloody Imbolc!" Severus growled. His hand nearly crushed the bones in Sirius'.

"You have a magical child," the Healer said. "It was either now or on the Equinox. Did you expect anything else?"

"I expected the child to be as punctual as his father is," Severus said.

"But he's got me as his other father," Sirius said, half smiling and giddy. Soon he was going to meet his child!

Severus glared and yelled as another contraction swept through his lower body. "Get it out!"

The Healer raised an eyebrow as he monitoured the contraction. "You are in luck--the baby is ready. I'll have the nurses wheel you into the operating theater."

"Can I be there?" Sirius asked.

"I'm afraid not. I want as few magical signatures in there as possible--I don't know what they could do to the baby." The Healer left with the chart and a parchment of numbers.

"You're on your own then," Sirius said, not quite feeling as brave as he was trying to be. He wanted to be there--wanted to support Severus and wanted to be on hand to hold their child.

Severus shook his head. "I don't think the Healer knows what he's talking about. Half the baby's magical signature is from you--yours should not be a problem."

"Then make sure to give him hell in there," Sirius said with a smile and a chuckle.

"Right then, gentlemen," a nurse said, bustling in and shooing Sirius to the side. "Excuse me. We'll just be taking him down the hall, no worries. You should be able to see them both soon enough."

Sirius' breath left him as he watched his husband go. He paced back to the waiting room where Lily was waiting. She patted the seat next to her. "Harry's excited."

"How can you tell?" Sirius asked. "He's always either excited or upset."

She laughed. "Just you wait--you'll know yourself. Why aren't you with him, anyway?"

"Magical birth," he answered in rote. "My magical signature could interfere somehow."

She hummed. "I think the Healer is just scared--there's never been a male pregnancy in several centuries. Not since the Romans were here in Britain. No one is quite sure what to do."

"If anyone could do it, it would be Severus," Sirius said. "His potions are second to none."

"So he'll be fine," she soothed. "I'm sure he wouldn't have taken the potion unless he was sure it wouldn't cause any complications."

"I'm so surprised--my mother didn't like having the servants over educated so he didn't know much beyond house hold skills, what he needed to be a servant. But he's excelled so much."

"Dumbledore wants him teaching." She laughed. "Can you imagine? He has some patience and a lot for Harry, but days filled with nothing but them? I can't begin to imagine."

"I think he wants to start his own potion business. He's been busy, you know, making potions now for the Order, but he says that nothing is really complicated. He wants more of a challenge."

"Knowing Severus, he'll make sure to find that."

"And I'll be left changing the diapers and reading stories."

She laughed again. "You really think so? He'll be a very attentive parent. I think you're going to have trouble getting time alone with your baby."

"You think so?"

She nodded. He thought about that for only a few minutes before his mind went back to Severus who was in the operating room, under going the surgery that would deliver their child. Though he had complained, Sirius' knew that Severus had considered an Imbolc birth once or twice. It was early, but as it was a magical pregnancy, sustained by potions rather than the other way around, the child should be fine. 

Finally, a nurse came looking for him and he was escorted into an anti chamber of sorts. Severus was awake, propped up, and holding something wrapped in a blanket. A child--their child. Heart in throat, Sirius approached the bed. "So what do we have?"

"Twins," Severus said, not looking up. 

Sirius blinked. "Twins?"

"You knew that the magic made it difficult to get any proper readings," Severus said. "It seems it was hiding two of them. A boy and a girl."

Sirius let out with a breathy laugh and looked around for the other one. A nurse waved him over to a cot and he gathered the small bundle close. "Twins." He joined Severus on the bed and looked at both children. They looked fraternal, but what did it matter? They were finally here, ready to face the world with all of Sirius' cunning and all of Severus' knowledge. 

"Can we name her Lily?" Severus asked. The name was not a surprise--ever since running away from his life as a servant, Lily had become his best, closest friend. 

"Lily is a good name," Sirius agreed. "And him?"

"You choose," Severus said. "Just please, no James or Remus."

Sirius laughed. "How about William? It's a good name."

"Lily and William," Severus said. "That's good." He looked up at Sirius with a smile. "They're amazing."

Sirius bent and gave Severus a kiss. "Thank you."

Severus smiled tiredly, but his eyes were completely happy.


End file.
